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“Are you sure you took them to the park?” I froze when I felt Kierra’s hand on my shoulder. She rubbed it soothingly, offering the comfort that I needed. Internally, I was a wreck, but I was trying to keep it together because I didn’t want to exacerbate Kierra’s irrational guilt.
“Do you want to talk about it?”
“Not particularly, but I’ll tell you what, we can have a cigarette together on the back patio later tonight.”
She smiled warmly. “Okay…it’s a date.”
A date. I wonder what kind of date Kierra would enjoy. Something fun andadventurous? Something new and exciting? Something sweaty and strenuous? Or something laid back andchill? Get it together, Jonathan. Your sons are missing, and you’re thinking about where to take your nanny on a date.
Kierra
“Mommy?”
“Hm?” I hummed, tucking Kiyah into bed.
“Grant and Casey missed dinner.”
“They did, baby.”
“Where are they?” she worried. I sighed. Kiyah was already attached to the Baker children as if they were her siblings. I loved that for her—that she was creating these bonds, but I was also afraid of what would happen when we moved on. We couldn’t stay with the Bakers forever.
“They are with their mommy right now,” I answered briefly.
“Are they coming back?”
“You should see them at the breakfast table in the morning.”
“You promise?”
I hate nothing more than making promises I can’t keep, and I’m not starting today.
“I can’t promise you because sometimes things happen, you know?” I said, reaching for a book from the cubby of her nightstand.
“Like Daddy dying?”
I paused and swallowed forcefully. “Hm, it’s different. Daddy had a work accident.”
“And he’s not coming back,” she whispered before fat tears rolled down her face.
God gives us strength.
I scooped her out of bed and bounced her in my arms as I paced her bedroom. “It’s okay, Kiyah. Let it out,” I cooed as I patted her back. “When you can, sing me Daddy’s favorite song.”
Nearly three minutes later, Kiyah began singing. “O-old MacDonald…had a…garage.” She paused to suck up snot.
“E-I-E-I-O. And what was in that garage?”
“And in that garage…he had…a car.”
“E-I-E-I-O. With a what?”
“With a vroom vroom here, and a vroom vroom there. Here a vroom, there a vroom, everywhere a vroom vroom. Old MacDonald had a garage. E-I-E-I-O.”
We spent the next ten minutes running through various vehicles someone could find in a garage, from a motorcycle to a golf cart, until Kiyah fell asleep in my arms.
“I’ve never heard that version before,” Jonathan said, startling me.
“Jesus, Jonathan. What are you a lawyer by day and a ninja by night?”
